Tips on "How to defeat an Acheron Golem lvl1-3"

Hi all!

I've done many Death Matches with my Acheron Golem, I think it's a very balanced legendary unit and I noticed maaaany times that the enemy could win but he did some very wrong moves and in the end I won the match!

I don't like to hear: "it's not balanced", "it's too op!" or other comments of this type after a match, so I'm writing down some tips that will allow you to win against an Acheron Golem lvl3 9 times out of 10 in the 400 AP range (and the one you'll not win you'll draw! Obviously if you don't make big mistakes! ):

1- The biggest error you may do is thinking the Golem is simply an unit with more HP: wrong! It is a killing machine that you have to avoid if you want to survive and win the match and the usual techniques don't work with him (e.g. surround him is pretty useless when it is still with all its HPs).

2- The Golem movement is VERY limited and Acheron will lose the INI almost always against Lions and 80% of times against Wolfen, however you must keep your important units away from its RUN movement (he will always engage more than attack and it will engage your most sensitive units if possible, ignoring eventually free hits from other units in-between). Use your superior numbers and mobility to keep it surrounded but from a distance.

3- If the enemy remains only with the Golem, he could only get a DRAW at maximum, so ALWAYS focus on the minions first (at max other 2-3 units, more probably just one)!

4- DON'T ATTACK IT IN MELEE when it is still with more than 20 HP, if it comes too near to your sensitive units, just ENGAGE (don't attack) it with ONLY ONE unit every time (you'll always have at least 4 more units than the Acheron player): in the following turn, if it want to kill the unit with an offensive command, its defense will be 0, so more easy to be hit by your units, if it doesn't use the offensive command, either it will ALWAYS take 2 turns to kill your unit or it will ignore it aiming to your archers/mages but it will suffer from a free attack.

5- DON'T SURROUND IT when it is still with more than 20 HPs: it is useless, it will hit anyway and will simply kill all your units and go on

6- When it engages one of your units, if you have other healing units still alive, then FLEE! Remember that it won't be able to run as far as you!

7- Usually, but not always, you have to pass many turns (about 8-9) just going around it with your various units and take its HP values down, some examples of units you may use is listed below.

8- If you want to win with a very high probability, you have to have at least (if you have more than the number written it is easier, but just one is sufficient):
Alahan: a Bowman of Alahan lvl2 with Precision OR an Alahan Mage lvl3 with any type of spell or an Alahan Mage lvl2 with Scourge of the Impure OR a Valkyrie with Incarnation of Justice.
Wolfen: a Wolfen Crossbow lvl2 with Ferocious OR 3 Wolfen Crossbows any lvl OR a Guardian of the Runes lvl1 OR 2 Wolfen Warriors lvl2 with Ferocious
Acheron: 2 Bowmen with Ferocious OR a Necro lvl4 with Wave of Death and another one lvl1 to get more puppets OR a Black Paladin lvl4 with Exausting Touch (and 50% luck) (Note: just a simple necro lvl1 can allow you to draw almost always thanks to his puppets stopping the movement of the Golem and a single Bowman with Ferocious may be also sufficient, depending on your other units!)
If you have at least one of the units above, you can win easily against an Acheron Golem if you play your cards right. Without any of the units above it would be very difficult to win (but not to draw!), and moreover these are all very common units to have in a company. Obviously you can win also if you have other companies, however it will be much more difficult.

I hope you'll find these tips useful. See you in the game!

Almanro

PS: A lvl4 Golem with +1MOV is much more difficult to win against because its main weakness (the low MOV) is gone, so it won't be an automatic victory also using the units listed above, however the amount of EXP it needs to obtain a lvl4 is crazy (958- about 140 more than a PoB lvl5!) So I don't think we'll see one of them around in the near future... and anyway the tips remain valid!

lvl4 is crazy (958- about 140 more than a PoB lvl5!) So I don't think we'll see one of them around in the near future...

i see golems only on lev 4

Unfortunately I never got a chance to confront a lvl4 Golem or to get so much experience in battle to lvl it up to 4 (still 200 exp needed), however I think the basic tips stay the same (e.g., harass, disengage, engage without attacking, etc.), only it will be much more difficult to win!

PS: I'm finding it balanced till lvl3, I have to try lvl4-5 before judging them.

it gets very though on lvl 4. Anyway... i think right now the golem is relatively well positioned as Ferocious is underutilized due to the fact that you meet only zergs which have a low TOU. Giving him insensitive was maybe not necessary with its current stats as a 50% chance is truly random, leaving only ranged able to deal with it and/or buffed unit (Ylia's wrath/scourge)

Without Insensitive if the enemy is playing a turtle formation you could already give up, since you'll never get to the mage in less than 3-4 turn optimistically speaking and you'll be minced in the meantime. Also against a lvl4 Black Paladin you'd also have to forfeit the match, so I don't think it is so unbalanced (remember that playing with the Golem = playing with only a couple of units in total = enemy can use many tactics to win while you only have the "rush" option!)

Without Insensitive if the enemy is playing a turtle formation you could already give up, since you'll never get to the mage in less than 3-4 turn optimistically speaking and you'll be minced in the meantime. Also against a lvl4 Black Paladin you'd also have to forfeit the match, so I don't think it is so unbalanced (remember that playing with the Golem = playing with only a couple of units in total = enemy can use many tactics to win while you only have the "rush" option!)

well then i should also give up if i play entirely a melee based comp

Well, you can still Draw the match without many problems (since an only melee company is usually Wolfen, and still at least an archer/mage of any sort is always present). Only melee companies have it rough with almost all the other companies, not just the Golem!

Anyways, having just a couple of Fangs with Ferocious is usually sufficient to win (just give it to 2 out of 5 of your Fang Zerg army and you'll be fine, and Ferocious can also helps against other elites too!) and I still have to meet a company at 400 AP that doesn't stand a chance against the lvl3 Golem (lvl4 I don't know for sure). Many times I won after the Golem was killed just because I still had my Gargoyle that was completely ignored by the enemy (and so at full HP), focusing only on the Golem (and in an incorrect way as I descibed above)

Well, you can still Draw the match without many problems

forcing draws is lame...
and should not be considered as a counter.

Well, you can still Draw the match without many problems (since an only melee company is usually Wolfen, and still at least an archer/mage of any sort is always present). Only melee companies have it rough with almost all the other companies, not just the Golem!

Anyways, having just a couple of Fangs with Ferocious is usually sufficient to win (just give it to 2 out of 5 of your Fang Zerg army and you'll be fine, and Ferocious can also helps against other elites too!) and I still have to meet a company at 400 AP that doesn't stand a chance against the lvl3 Golem (lvl4 I don't know for sure). Many times I won after the Golem was killed just because I still had my Gargoyle that was completely ignored by the enemy (and so at full HP), focusing only on the Golem (and in an incorrect way as I descibed above)

i met the golem only once and it was indeed a draw... i had 3xfangs 1xgrave guardian 1xlonewolf 1xrune guardian. I eliminated the other 3 guys almost without damage...then i surrounded the golem hitting him with the grave guardian + ylia's wrath for like 12 damage per turn without getting hit. Unfortunately at about 10 HP of the golem he managed to kill all my other units , minus one fang who went for the draw. Ferocious on fangs would make his life very hard but currently it is not worth it vs ruthless or elusive as the probability you meet him is very low.

Yeah going for the draw is lame but what to do? suiciding yourself isn't cool either

As lions, I've fought the golem in the 400 AP bracket several times. Each time, it was actually the first unit in the game to fall, as I spent the first few turns using my favorable auspises archer to wear it down, then when it got close enough my valk activated her incarnation of justice ability, popped offensive stance, and then dealt 30 damage, finishing the unit off.

Indeed, the golem is extremely powerful, but its weaknesses are range and true damage. Simply because it has 3 movement, it's always easy to avoid it when you want to.